Canadian Music is Boring

This article:

[www.ffwdweekly.com]

is apparently causing quite a stir up in the Great White North. It's actually part of a larger concern among Canuks (do a search for 'Canada + mediocrity'). I'd never given Canada much thought, which is precisely the problem. And when I think about Canadian music, I often shudder in horror: Celine, Alanis, Rush, some of the worst shit ever comes from up there. Can't say I care much for Arcade Fire, Guess Who, or Bachman Turner Overdrive, either, tho I'm the first to admit there's great stuff, too.

Maybe they're being too hard on themselves. I guess they never have invented anything important, now that I think about it, but same goes for lots of countries (has Australia invented anything, Aitch?) Still, it's hard not to feel inferior when you basically come from the same historical background as your neighbors to the south, but they produced Edison, Les Paul, Leo Fender, Bob Moog, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, rock, and hip-hop, and your country has invented...umm...not being sarcastic, but has Canada invented anything musically?

This, and other articles, blame the 'Can-Con' laws for Canada's mediocrity, but maybe it has to do with the fact that America, driven by moral outrage, violence, and intellectual mavericks like Jefferson, rebelled against the British Empire, while Canada just kinda shrugged and went along with it, until they were finally given a bit of autonomy. Encoded in our DNA?



Post Edited (09-05-12 17:57)

New Pornographers ?

All of the members of The Band were Candadian except Levon Helm. Does that help?

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All of the members of The Band were Candadian except Levon Helm. Does that help?

Whoa! Lights out, Can-daddy--o! Strictly 1.8288 meters under. RIP.

Too bad we can't simply write 'em back into the story line.

Canada invented Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Sure, none of them live in Canada anymore (and haven't for decades), but none of them deny their roots, either.

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Maybe they're being too hard on themselves. I guess they never have invented anything important...

Ahem!

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



Exhibit C:



Err. Ladies and Gentlemen ... the defense rests, eh?

Hey, my link didn't work! Grrr. Well, you just gotta copy-and-paste again, folks.

Michael: The articles say that anyone who succeeds leaves the country for America, further entrenching Canada's mediocrity.

That applies to Carl Whatisname from the New Porns as well, then. Doesn't he live in New York? (Though I think it's because of who he married, rather than success.)

On the other hand, Joe Pernice moved to Canada.

Reading it now (http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/music/music-features/canadian-music-is-boring-9466/) and find the discussion a bit odd. It's not really about Canadian music, per se, it's about a particular subset of "Can-indie" as the author calls it - descendents of New Pornographers (whom I love) and Broken Social Scene (about whom I don't care care either way). And yeah, blaming Can-Con requirements for purported mediocrity.

I don't know a lot of the bands referenced - which just means they haven't percolated south of the 49th parallel - but heck, Canada has only 34 million people. That's less than 1/9 of the US, or fewer than California. And, candidly, I listen to a lot more music from Canada than I do from California, so in some regards, the Canadians are doing pretty well!

Important (to me) Canadian bands and scenes - Halifax in the 1990s, lots of Ontario female songwriters in the 1990s/early 2000s, and of course the usual legends (Cohen, Mitchell - "I drew a map of Canada, O Canada," Young - "there is a town in North Ontario,"etc.) Even Winnipeg has the Weakerthans!

This book made, I thought, a pretty convincing argument that not all Canadian rock is boring.

Y'know, looking at that picture of Alpha Flight I'm pretty sure everyone in it has been dead at some point or another - multiple times for most of them, except maybe Puck and Aurora. Poor old Northstar died three times in one month in three different timelines a few years back.

Wait - I think Puck was killed with the rest of them in an issue of the Mighty Avengers a few years back, in a story that made absolutely no sense. (It was written by Brian Michael Bendis, so that last bit goes without saying.) So I think maybe Aurora is the only one who's never been killed, and that's mainly because she's a hot, horny, crazy Quebecoise with multiple personalities, and who in their right mind would kill off a character like that?

However, I'm pretty sure Marina is the only one who's still dead. Not that anyone ever cared about Marina. Hell, the Sub-Mariner married her, then couldn't wait to kill her as soon as she turned into a giant sea monster. Not that the Sub-Mariner's opinion of anyone should ever count for much, as the guy is a jerk.

And in addition to any worthwhile Canuck musicians already named, add Metric, Stars, Bruce Cockburn, the Cowboy Junkies, Skinny Puppy and Destroyer.

Unfortunately, it takes the whole bunch of them just to atone for their nation inflicting the Barenaked Ladies on the world.



Post Edited (09-05-12 21:27)

Isnt Fucked Up Canadian? That ups the grade by a full letter!

Well, Canada has 1/10 our population (and used to have 1/20th) and is 10 times as laidback.

The only country I've been in where people routinely offer their place in the queue and other extracourtesies. No guns no road rage. I once witnessed a cop suggest to a group of revelers that they reclothe and he ended his gentle persuasion with "and you shouldn't be smoking that weed, eh. You think I don't know what you're doing but I can smell it, eh". They're response? "Hey fook off eh. You don't tell us how to party eh". Imagine this encounter in the bible belt.

i.e. Maybe a garage isn't enough to balance the equation?

But then that wouldn't explain:

Fucked Up
Besnard Lakes
Sloan
Career Suicide
Death from Above 1979
DOA
Japandroids
Constantines
Propagandhi
Rural Alberta Advantage
Mecca Normal
Wolf Parade
Tokyo Police Club
Subhumans
Handsome Furs
Caribou
Plants & Animals
Karkwa

ottomh

Even though I don't live in a border state I've spent considerable time in the country. I fucking love it and have considered emigrating. It's like a social experiment in what America could have been. The two big cons:
+There's a reason 95% of the population live within a 100 miles of the USA
+Everything is $$$

btw here's this year's Short List

edit::I had to double check Bear In Heaven. Coulda sworn they were 'nucks.



Post Edited (09-06-12 10:14)

What happened to The Constantines? Are they still together? I liked them back in the day.

Just wiki'ed them. The answer is: on hiatus. The Constantines played the Vancouver Olympics ?!?!?!

The Nils were Canadian and they were pretty great but its hard to atone for Celine Dion, eh?

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I think the article was more a critique of Cancon and the self-satisfaction/ complacency its engendered. From 1,500 miles south, it's hard for me to judge the author's assessment.

Don't forget Nomeansno and SNFU!

Nomeansno is playing Fun Fun Fun Fest this year. I hope to catch 'em.

How does a Canadian music conversation happen without mention of Blue Rodeo? Though I think you really have to seem them live to really get what a great group this is.

And, man, the Odds sure were great for one song.

I saw BR at Antones (a small club at the time) here in Austin on the Lost Forever tour - even interviewed Jim Cuddy, who was bemused at how they were playing arenas in Canada and tiny clubs in the States. They were great, though.

I feel like we should also mention the Tragically Hip. I know their career has been pretty uneven, but when they're good, they're awesome. Have Not Been the Same devotes an entire chapter to them, and it's an interesting story.

Speaking of which...hey, M. Johnson, what do you know about Change of Heart? After finishing the book, I wanted to hear that band really badly. Now Sonic Unyon (a very fine Canadian label) is putting out a CoH comp that's pretty impressive.

Oh yeah, another Canadian band we should mention who definitely ain't boring: Voivod.

As a Canadian, I assure you that our music is rarely boring or mediocre. For a nation of our population density/distribution, and geography our output is pretty exceptional. [And sometimes exceptionally terrible. I did not forsee Nickleback.]

I'm confident that any music lover could go for a year or more on a strict diet of only Canadian music and come away nourished.

Canada, like every other nation, is a different sort of beast than your United States.

Anyhoo, your post was pretty ignorant, Fab.

M. Johnson: I was just linking to the article/quoting from it (and other similar articles). Like I said, I'd never given the matter much thought before, and I loves me some Canadian musics - no-one's a bigger Neil fan than me. I would add to my Canuk faves composer John Oswald, and oddball rappers Dream Warriors

But I would like to hear from you and any other Canadians (come out, you lurkers!) what you all think about the issues raised by the article, e.g.: Can-con laws, and the charges from the author that Canada has never innovated anything, just takes from American music. I really am curious - is there some uniquely Canadian music that isn't based on American rock, jazz, etc? Some obscure Nova Scotia folk traditions or sumthin?

I would have to add Crystal Castles to this list. And Eight and a Half. The former are one of *the* best worldwide in electronica right now, in my opinion.

After the writer of the article spoke highly of Vancouver's White Lung, I started listening to some of their stuff on Rhapsody. Pretty good. Then, while I was browsing through the new releases page on Rhapsody, I noticed Manitoban punkers Propagandhi have a new album called Failed States. Ouch. These guys went off-track somewhere, but I still dig their early stuff. Hey, there's a new one from Stars this week, too, The North: a return to form, I say! Wait, what about the new self-titled album from The Sheepdogs? Bar band blues from Saskatoon.



Post Edited (09-07-12 11:03)

As long as we're plugging cool Canadian bands, I wanna give a shout-out to my favorite: Lions in the Street. Their self-titled record from a couple of years ago is the best Stones album the Stones haven't made in 35 years.

Oh, I like some of the stuff by Stars a great deal. P4k was pretty down on some of their recent albums, but I liked In Our Bedroom After the War and Set Yourself on Fire a lot.

Listing good Canadian bands would occupy me for some time.

Michael, I'm gonna go ahead and give Lions in the Street the best Stones album the Stones haven't made in 40 years. "Mine Ain't Yours"...day-umm!

They're a great band. They came to the Hole in the Wall (an Austin club that lives up to its name) a few years ago to no fanfare. There were maybe half a dozen people there. They played great, though there seemed to be some tension between them after the show, which I chalked up to them probably being sick of each other by then.

> I'm confident that any music lover could go for a year or more on a strict diet of only
> Canadian music and come away nourished.

Hear, hear. I've never been able to say the same about Colorado-based artists. Too much miserable baggage in that state's musical legacy, from Johnnie Denver on up.

the Diodes

Grapes of Wrath ftw!

....and the Weakerthans have my vote as best Canadian band of the past umpteen years. oh yeah, I really like Great Lake Swimmers too.

Post Edited (09-07-12 13:46)
D'oh



Post Edited (09-27-12 00:46)

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oh yeah, I really like Great Lake Swimmers too.

They're Canadian?

I did not know that! Wow.

...

I like 'em a lot as well, but would never offer them as evidence that Canadian music isn't boring. I have the first three albums and the parts that I could stay awake through were all very quiet and mild and ... well ... boring.

However, I like boring. C'mon over. We'll listen to "Dreamweapon" and chill. It'll be fun.

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C'mon over. We'll listen to "Dreamweapon" and chill. It'll be fun.

Only if I get to bring my Red House Painters albums.

One of us had to go there sooner or later.

I'm not seeing any Paul Shaffer OR Zit Remedy posts here.

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I'm not seeing any Paul Shaffer OR Zit Remedy posts here.

Paul Shaffer was in a band called ... Zit Remedy?

Wow. I did not know that!

Fantastic article!Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this, I feel fervently about this and I like learning about Canadian music.I have entered this site and find some interesting information there.



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